The Relationship between Behavior Ratings and Concurrent and Subsequent Mental and Motor Performance in Toddlers Born at Extremely Low Birth Weight

Abstract

When predicting child developmental outcomes, reliance on children's scores on measures of developmental functioning alone might mask more subtle behavioral difficulties especially in children with developmental risk factors. The current study examined predictors and stability of examiner behavior ratings and their association with concurrent and subsequent mental and motor performance in toddlers born at extremely low birth weight. Toddlers were evaluated using the Behavior Rating scale (BRS) and the mental and psychomotor indexes of the Bayley-II at 18 and 30 months corrected age. BRS total and factor scores showed moderate stability between 18 and 30 months. These scores also predicted 30-month Mental Scale and Psychomotor Scale scores above and beyond prior mental and motor performance. Our findings suggest that early behavior ratings are associated with child mental and motor performance; therefore, behavior ratings might be useful in identifying toddlers at developmental risk and who might benefit from early intervention.